


Fallout 4: The Days that Followed

by RedNovember



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-10
Updated: 2017-11-09
Packaged: 2019-01-31 09:43:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12679302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedNovember/pseuds/RedNovember
Summary: Four years after the Sole Survivor clawed his way up into the Commonwealth, a new threat is coming. Can the heroes of yesterday and the new generation face the coming storm? Or will they too fall to another devastation?





	Fallout 4: The Days that Followed

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! So this is my Fallout 4 fanfiction, which I'll be writing alongside my Star Wars fanfiction, so please don't think that I've abandoned either of them if there's a period of no new chapters! I'm just trying to write two (possibly three soon) fanfictions at once!
> 
> Unlike my Star Wars fanfiction, which breaks a good deal of canon, this'll stick to canon with a few things added in from the other Fallout franchises! I'll also be taking the occasional request for a one-shot character! So if you want to suggest a character, send me a PM! I'll see if I can fit it in at somepoint!
> 
> So please enjoy this fanfic and, as always, be brutal with your comments! It'll help me learn where I need to work!
> 
> Enjoy!

Far beneath the surface of the war-torn earth, a battle raged between invaders and those defending their home. Both sides vying for control of a place of great power and defense. To the untrained eye, it was a battle between two peoples who wished to occupy the land on which they were fighting. The battle was a bloody, gruesome affair, and wouldn't stop until either side were dead or had surrendered.  
Realistically however, the fight was between a band of raiders who had wandered in looking for chems and the small enclave of the Children of Atom who had taken over the former vault-building project.  
"Hey Meaty! Throw those rad-heads a present!" One of the raiders screamed, as she dodged several bursts from a nearby Child of Atom. "Yeah, yeah! Gimme a minute! Gotta get high for this one!" Was the reply from Meaty, hiding behind a concrete tube. The female raider rolled her eyes and yelled a quick obscenity towards the defending Children of Atom before screaming, "You can have half of my share of the chems if you make that throw now! I wanna get in there and behead that one who got Kay-Kay!" "Make it your entire share and you've got a deal!" Came the reply, this time from a metal cart a few yards back. "Just throw the damn grenades already! None of us are getting anything unless you break that gate already!" There were a few obscenities screamed in return, but a moment later she saw a small bundle of explosives go flying towards the gate, managing to hit the very top of it and fall right in-front of it. "Raiders! Fuck 'em up!" She screamed, before jumping up and charging the gate. Most of the raiders jumped up and followed, howling and screeching as they ran up the slight incline which had allowed them cover from the defenders. They managed to time it just right, so as they got there the grenade bundle went off, blowing the junk-built gate off of its hinges.  
They jumped through the smoke, expecting some very surprised Children of Atom waiting for them. But as they charged through, one of the quicker raiders, who had disappeared in the smoke, let out a quick screech before falling silent. However, this didn't register with the oncoming horde until a very distinct sound reached their ears. A humming noise. The female raider, who had been leading the charge, quickly hit the earth, scrambling behind some pieces of rubble from the gate, as a hailstorm of lead flew over her head, blasting much of the raiders behind her into a bloody mess. She took a quick moment to register the fact that her entire charge had turned into a massacre, before her attention was dragged back to the Children, as she heard a heavy metal thumping; and much to her panic, it was closing in on her little hiding place. She laid there for a minute, hoping that the noise would wander off.  
Unfortunately for her, the piece of rubble she had been using as a shield was lifted away, revealing what she had feared. A suit of T-60 Power armor, painted in the traditional colors of the Children of Atom, stood there, glaring down at her. She just lay there, gaping at the massive form, barely registering the noises of the rest of her gang fleeing. She stared at the power armor for several long minutes before trying to scramble away back down the slope she had charged up only minutes ago. She got about three feet before she felt a heavy metal hand close around her ankle. Her final thoughts before a sledgehammer smashed her skull in was, "I never did get high enough to forget everything." Then there was a sickening crunch and everything went black.  
The remaining raiders fled, but they ran right into the waiting arms of a group of robots, also painted in the Children of Atom fashion. Not one of them survived the Assaultrons, while the Protectrons wandered through, killing those who somehow survived the inital attack. The bodies were stripped of anything useful and then thrown out onto the surface for predators to eat and scavengers to pick over the remains.  
Meanwhile, the Children of Atom were repairing their gate, burying their dead, and rebuilding the signs they had raised near all of the entrances. Those signs, symbols of warning towards some and symbols of safety to others, read. "Atom's Vault. Beware to those who wish harm. Welcome to those bearing peace."

Third Person POV: Diamond City, 2291  
Diamond City had grown in the four years since the Sole Survivor clambered his way, inch by bloody inch, up into the Commonwealth. The former baseball stadium, now de facto capital of the Commonwealth, was now almost completely packed with building and people, with some buildings being three or four stories high, and at the top of the stand, the buildings were large and built in grandiose fashions, mostly for the Upper-class of the City.  
Some aspects of its former self remained however. Takahashi's Noodle Stand still stood, relatively untouched by the building efforts. The Dug-Out Inn still served cold drinks and good rooms to those who could pay. The Market Square had also grown. New shops popped up into existence as the City grew. They ranged from small specialized shops selling all-natural ingredients to stores that sold fresh fruit and vegetables to a combat supplier selling body armor, hand-made by them.  
But Diamond City surplus, Commonwealth Weaponry, and Moe Cronin's stand all still stood, though changed slightly. Diamond City Surplus had grown significantly, being the place to sell scraps at; Arturo had retired, giving the stand to his son, Max, to run; Moe Cronin's stand was still the go-to place for anything Baseball, but Moe himself had died two years ago, due to an unhappy customer, who had bought a swatter and almost died because it had broken on the first hit, from the DC Wasteland. The stand was now run by another baseball enthusiast, a descendant of a baseball player. Her name was Mia Basemi, though, most called her "Base," for short.  
Doctor Sun's clinic had moved into what was once the Home Base, purchasing it from the Sole Survivor after he built his own home at what he called, "Hangmen's Alley." The clinic was incredibly successful and with the help of wandering doctors and Pre-War books, Dr. Sun had built something that even Pre-War doctors would have been proud of.  
Unfortunately, with growth came growing pains. Diamond City security was no longer able to keep order and had to give control of the city to the Minutemen, essentially handing over the City to the reborn Minutemen. Some of the older residents had kicked up a fuss about the change in power, but over time, most came to accept it.  
But Diamond City wasn't the only place where drastic changes occurred. Sanctuary Hills had become a settlement to rival Diamond City, it less defensible, but closer to the roadways, so it quickly grew to a massive settlement, independent of both Diamond City and Goodneighbour. It possessed its own militia and security forces, it was self-sufficient by growing all its own food and purifying it own water. It was the main supporter of the Minutemen, helping in whatever way it could to rebuilding the Castle. But it too had its problems. It was a hotbed of different beliefs, as it held the Minutemen, a small church of the Children of Atom, they took in several survivors of the Brotherhood of Steel, a wide assortment of settlers from all over the Commonwealth, and even a few synths, though the latter were kept under wraps to avoid rioting and the inevitable lynching that would follow. This mix of people led to more than one bar fight and the occasional brawl between beliefs.  
While Sanctuary Hills helped supply a great deal of resources to the Castle, the Minutemen were the main reason settlements were even allowed to thrive now. The Minutemen reclaimed the Castle, rebuilt it, and then announced the rebuilding of the Minutemen. This came as a shock to many, as the Minutemen were considered to be entirely dead. Raider gangs didn't even take it seriously until Quincy was cleansed of the Gunner, in what would be called "Quincy's Revenge." The Minutemen were at first, a small group of farmers and settlers who were fed up with Raiders taking advantage of the absence of the Minutemen. But after they retook Quincy and helped it rebuild itself, the Minutemen swelled to become a massive militia spread across the entire Commonwealth and had several outposts beyond. Raider gangs were now hard-pressed to find places to build hideouts and raid local settlements. The few that did also found that it was now nearly impossible to raid or even intimidate traders and settlements, let alone reach the great heights they had previously possessed.  
The Commonwealth had gone through much in its life. But now, its people seemed to be settling down for a period of peace. Or so most thought...

Piper Wright’s POV: Diamond City, 2291  
Piper Wright was in her office, brainstorming for the next article, which usually meant drinking coffee and daydreaming about the days when she was an adventurous reporter, constantly searching for the next big scoop. Now she was stuck on a desk, waiting for her band of, oddly young, adventurous reporters to come back and give her an article to publish.  
With that depressing thought in mind, she gave out a huge sigh, grabbing the attention of her cat of four years, Mr. Whiskers. "Boy buddy.. I sure do miss the days when I wasn't stuck here.. It sure was an amazing feeling to be out there on the open road. Oh well, at least here I can yell at a buncha little tykes for grammar. Not that it relaxes me or anything.." She trailed off, muttering small indignities that her sense of, admittedly spotty, grammar was horrified by.  
This went on for several minutes, at which point the cat went looking for that radstag she had given him an hour or two earlier. She continued muttering for a minute or two more after he left, then perked up and said aloud. "Goddamnit, I'm going to go get a drink. I deserve it!" With that, she pushed her chair back, ignoring the screeching of metal of concrete, and walked out the door into the bustling city market.  
Diamond City was busy as usual. Full of both old and new residents, the Market itself was crazy, due to several caravans coming in at once to flood the market with goods from the Capital Wasteland and beyond. A new favorite of Diamond City residents was Sunset Sarsaparilla, the drink caravans out west brought in. Nuka-Cola was becoming scarcer in the Commonwealth, due to scavengers constantly picking over the ruins and raiders looting smaller settlements.  
Piper actually had done a piece in the paper about the new drink and the rarity of Nuka-Cola, but it had been a filler piece she had written out of boredom. Ironically, besides the Sole Survivor's adventures, it was the highest rated article she had ever written. "Because everyone wants to hear about fizzy drinks and not about actual news.. Typical." She muttered as she dodged children playing and people bargaining over prices in the market.

Nick Valentine’s POV: Diamond City, 2291  
Nick Valentine was getting old. Both in the literal and metaphorical sense. Of course, he didn't let a little thing like old age slow him down anyway. He was still Diamond City's most effective detective and by God, he was planning on keeping that title. Even if his new partner, Danny Sullivan, former Diamond City security, was quickly getting the hang of this detective business. With his focus renewed and pride on the line, he turned his attention towards the pile of cases he was working on. He sighed slightly, and then just went to work. Several of them were so stupidly simple or simply stupid, he just made a note to solve them on his off days and moved on to bigger cases. Some of what he found were interesting, others were not. Money wasn't a factor anymore, he no longer worried about rent, with some of the cases he did, he was now set for life and could retire if he wanted. Keyword there being "If."  
An hour and several frustrated sighs later, he finally found something interesting. Filed under "Missing Person/s" was a case file for a group of traders that had gone missing near Quincy. Normally, this would go straight to Preston Garvey at Sanctuary, but Nick was feeling adventerous. So he picked up the case file and began to read the report from locals who lived in Quincy. A group of traders carrying a significant amount of medicine and chems that were supposed to go to the rebuilding efforts in Quincy had simply vanished near Quincy Quarry. The quarry and the surrounding area was a known raider hotspot and was usually avoided, but the traders, for some reason, went straight through it.  
The caravan had an armed escort, but they had been found unconscious at a small campsite several miles away. None of them knew what had happened and all had evidence of chems in their system. The current theory is that the caravan went rogue and stole the various goods and medicine.  
"Now here's something interesting. Ellie? Ellie! Where are you?" He yelled out. "Coming Nick! Just a minute!" Came the shouted response. A moment later, a very pregnant Ellie appeared at the doorway. "Yeah, Nick? What's up?" The synth cleared his throat, or did the synth equivalent, he still wasn't sure about whether he actually cleard his throat or not. "I've got a case, it'll be down south. So take a few days off and take care of that little pie you've got there." He said with a smirk. "Har har, Nick. This "baby" and I were already planning on taking a vacation. But I think you knew that, didn't you?" She said, with a small grin and narrowed eyes. "Yes.. well.. I suppose you can have your "vacation." But don't think you're done here, young lady. We've still got work, even if you've got a more important job there." He said, chuckling. Ellie laughed as she left his office, "Yeah yeah, Nick. You keep saying that. I'll see you in a few days." He gave a wave as he poked his head around the corner. "Yeah. You know how to contact me if anything goes wrong. I'll see you soon." He gave her a quick wave as she left. He sighed as he muttered slightly, "If Danny doesn't get back soon. He'll miss the birth.. Never hear the end of that one." He leaned back in his chair, lit a cigarette, and let out a small ring of smoke.  
Once Piper arrived at the Dug-Out Inn, she knew something wasn't right. Several of Diamond City security were standing outside and blocking people from entering the Inn. Angry shouts and muttering from both the guards and the thirsty people could be heard once she got closer. "Let us in! We want our drinks!" Came a shout from what appeared to be a caravaneer. "No one is getting in! This is a crime scene and dammit man, go get a drink from the Upper Stands!" This brought about a new muttering and not a few dirty stares directed towards the guards.  
One of the guards noticed her standing near the back of the crowd and shouted over the muttering. "Miss Piper! Glad to see you! Would you mind getting Nick? We need his expert opinion." Piper was a little startled, but before she could respond, Nick came up next to her and shouted in response. "No need, Barney! I'm right here. Piper and I are coming up." Piper side eyed him, he just kept looking ahead as he pushed his way through the crowd. "Smile Piper. You'll get the scoop on a 'horrendous crime at the Dug-Out Inn." She smirked. "Har har, Nick. You just want me to help you talk your way through Vadim and Yefim." The Synth only grinned.  
They managed to get inside the bar, what they found shocked them. "I-is.. That Vadim?" Piper squeaked. The guard, Barney, only nodded. "Yeah. Yefim is in the back, he's worse off." Nick spun around to him. "Just as bad?! The man got his head blown off! How can he be worse off?!" The guard just shook his head sadly. "Trust me. Once the doc is done with him, you'll find out. For now, mind working.. with Vadim? We're stumped on how the killer got in." The synth shook himself, as if he was shaking off a coat of water. "Yeah. Gimme a little bit of room, would ya?" Barney nodded before going back outside.  
"Jesus Nick.. The man got his head blown off with a shotgun. How obvious is it?" Piper said, nervously. "Actually Piper. Vadim wasn't killed with a shotgun. His head was literally smashed in. With, what I assume, a sledgehammer." With this Piper, looking very green, ran off to the bathroom, presumably to vomit her lunch back up. Nick took advantage of the momentary advantage that her absence brought. "Hmmm.. No visible signs of defensive wounds, no shells or casings. Blood spatter appears to have been smashed from the front. Means he knew his attacker and trusted them enough to have no weapons on him. His brother was also hurt, which meant it wasn't a hit, personal grudge perhaps? Or maybe it was a move by one of the Upper Stands residents to take over the bar.  
Doctor Sunn came out of the back room and gave a small start at Nick, but quickly regained his composure. "Evening Nick. I assume you want to talk to Yefim?" He said as he stripped off a pair of gloves, that looked slightly stained. Nick nodded, "Yeah, Doc. How is he?" Sunn shook his head sadly. "The man was castrated, Nick. And not in the medical way. Someone took a hammer and a hacksaw, by my guess, and.. Well, you get the idea. Anyway, Yefim is lucid, but in a massive amount of pain." Nick grimaced. "Castrated? How did the perp manage that?"  
Sunn response wasn't what Nick wanted to hear. "No idea. All I know is that the hacksaw was red hot. The wounds were burned shut. Small mercies or evils, depending on how you look at it." A small noise of pain came from behind Nick. "Yefim was castrated? Good god, this guy is sick.." Nick nodded, "More so Piper. Vadim wasn't killed by a shotgun. It was a sledgehammer. Quick, but brutal death." Piper looked a little more green, but managed to keep it down. "Not many people can smash a man's head in." Nick nodded, "Yeah. The only person I know of disappeared four years ago." Both Piper and Sunn nodded, knowing who Nick was talking about. "But it couldn't have been him. He, Vadim, and Yefim were all friends." Nick sighed, as he remembered the good days. "I don't know, Piper. But I agree it couldn't have been him. He wouldn't have killed Vadim and castrated Yefim. He probably would have just killed both of them. We wouldn't have any bodies either." Piper looked annoyed, but nodded. Doctor Sunn posed the question they were all thinking. "Then who did this?"

Third Person POV: Sanctuary Hills, 2291  
The bustling settlement of Sanctuary Hills was in an uproar. Four settlers had been killed the night before, all of them being simple farmers. They had been killed in a brutal and violent way too, with their throats sliced open and several stab wounds that would have led to the victims bleeding out long before they would have gotten help. This wouldn't have been surprising, as all of them lived on the other side of the river, which was a dangerous place in all rights, but what had made it such an event was the fact that they all had a heart carved on their face, the symbol of a certain serial killer who had been killed four years before. The notorious killer, Pickman.  
As it stood people were already starting to panic, as when the Sole Survivor had told people what Pickman had been doing, they were terrified of what he had done. In fact, a week after this had been announced, someone had burned the house that Pickman had been living in, which somehow led to a good portion of the ruins also burning down, before there had been a pretty bad storm which had put the fires out. No one claimed responsibility, but it was more or less known that some locals from Diamond City had done it. No one knew for sure, however, the identities of the arsons, not that anyone looked too hard.  
Sanctuary's security forces were already scouring the town and had several groups of volunteer militiamen searching the local area. Nothing had been found, but there was talk of building of a robotic police team to keep watch during the night.  
Ironically, the person they all looked to for safety now was the Mechanist. She had finally left her lair, underneath the RobCo headquarters, and joined Sanctuary Hills three years ago to help build robots for some of the more menial tasks. She had become a much-beloved character at the settlement, most forgiving her of her past mistakes; though a few were still wary of her.  
She and Preston had sat down to discuss what to do, as Preston and Ronnie Shaw had taken control of the Minutemen after the Sole Survivor had left. Though, a shy mechanic and a wanna-be super hero weren't exactly the best to come up with security robots designed to hunt down and eliminate a dangerous criminal.  
"Do you think an AssualtTron and Mr. Handy mix would work? Not exactly big, but it can be equipped with some serious firepower. Plus, it would be quick enough to respond to most threats.” Isabel Cruz, the Mechanist, asked. Preston looked thoughtful for a minute before responding. “Maybe. That would be something we could consider, but it doesn’t feel like it would give the people a lot of confidence in the new guards.” She nodded, but still looked unconvinced. “But nothing else would work well with the modules you want to put on them. Anything else puts too much strain on the thruster and we’d have to compromise other systems that are vital to the bot’s integrity.” She replied. Preston sighed, “Well. You’re the expert; just promise me that we can paint them something special? I want them to at least look semi-intimidating.” She gave him a small smile before replying. “I was planning on adding the Sentry voice modulator to them. I’ve updated their coding to have a few more words added to their vocabulary.”  
Preston grinned before giving a tired sigh. “I can’t wait to see how they turn out then. I’ll leave the technical details up to you. I’ve got to go check with Ronnie and then get to bed. I was up all night checking on the Abernathys. They were talking about someone hanging around the old shipping center.” Isabel looked at him worriedly. “Are they alright? I have a couple of prototype bots I can send over there to make sure they’re okay.” He just waved his hand at this. “Naw. We already check it out, it was just a shady chem dealer who had moved into the place. We just told him to beat it, he took our advice pretty quickly. No, I’m more concerned about Sunshine Tiding’s.. I’ve been getting reports of some group moved into the place and are turning the place into a veritable fortress. Nothing to be worried about yet, though. Let’s hope it stays that way.” She nodded, but was already immersed in the technical documents. He just smiled and shook his head.  
When he got to the door he suddenly remembered something. “Oh hey. When are you getting home tonight? I’ve got a plan for our anniversary, it involves a fair bit of booze..” He said, giving her a little bit of an eyebrow waggle. She just giggled. “I’ll be home before too long. I’m just trying to finish up this stuff before heading back. I’ll meet you there. I promise it won’t be like last year.” He gave her a loving smile before heading out into the fledgling town.


End file.
